More 8 drivers arrested over bribery attempts

The Rwanda National Police (RNP) intensified awareness and operations against corruption have led to the arrest of eight drivers, who are said to have attempted to bribe police officers to avoid penalties over traffic related offences.

They were arrested separately in the last two days. The suspects include the duo of Jean Bosco Ndabarinze, 43, and Jean de Dieu Safari, 31, who were apprehended on November 1 in Nyamirambo attempting to offer a bribe of Rwf150, 000.

According to the spokesperson for traffic and road safety department, Chief Inspector of Police (CIP) Emmanuel Kabanda, Ndabarinze and Safari, who were at the time doing their practical driver’s license tests, offered the bribe after they failed, to have their names considered among those who passed.

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“They were immediately arrested and taken to Nyamirambo Police station and the exhibit seized to facilitate judicial proceedings,” CIP Kabanda said.

“The other six suspects, all professional drivers, had also attempted to give bribes ranging from Rwf3, 000 to Rwf12, 000 after they were caught violating traffic rules and regulations,” he added.

They include one Twagirayezu Karegeua, who had parked his vehicle in a prohibited place in Gakenke trading centre, Gakenke District.

“We are on roads to ensure the safety of the people not to be bribed to put people’s lives at stake; this habit which is especially high among drivers should stop and it’s simple, follow the road safety standards, value the lives of others and go through proper channels to acquire a legal service,” CIP Kabanda said.

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“Violating rules and trying to give bribes to get away with it will only put you in more trouble because the penalty for the offence will still stand on top of being arrested and prosecuted for bribery,” he said, adding that all of the six drivers were also penalized for the traffic offences they had committed.

“We are a police and officers built on the values of zero tolerance against corruption and many other values. We will have no mercy to whoever tries to buy illegal services or attempts to access a legal service in an illegal way,” he warned.